106 



CONDITIONS BY. COUNTIES. 



Marion, Marshall, Mason, ^lonongalia, Ohio, Putnam, Roane, 

 Tyler, Wetzel and Wirt counties have been determined with 

 accuracy. The others are only approximate. 



BARBOUR COUNTY. 



Location and Area. 



Barbour county, formed from parts of Lewis, Harrison and 

 Randolph, lies some distance northeast of the center of the 

 state. Its area is 393 square miles or 251,520 acres. 



Topography. 



The surface of the county is hilly except where Laurel 

 ridge, the last western ridge of the AUeghanies, forms an ele- 

 vated and continuous mountain border on the east. As a whole, 

 the area is less rugged than parts of Upshur, .Randolph and 

 Tucker counties on the south and east. The hillsides facing 

 the streams in many sections are steep and rough, but back 

 from these the hills are well rounded and smooth and admit of 

 easy cultivation. The bottom lands along Tygarts Valley river 

 are very narrow as compared with those farther up the stream 

 in Randolph and with those of Cheat river in Tucker. There 

 are areas of considerable extent, however, that are level, or al- 

 most level, lying on the ridges and uplands of Glade and Cove 

 districts and in some sections farther west. The elevations of 

 Barbour range from about 1,000 feet above tide at the point 

 where Tygarts Valley river leaves the county, up to 3,075 feet 

 where the eastern line crosses a high point on Laurel Hill about 

 3 miles directly east of the town of Belington. 



Original Forest Conditions. 



Almost the whole area was once covered with a dense 

 growth of hardwoods. The region on the west, drained by 

 Gnatty creek. Elk creek, and Brushy Fork, should be especially 

 mentioned in this connection, for it is doubtful if any portion 



